Cisco confirms CVE-2026-20079 Secure FMC flaw exploited in attacks
Cisco confirmed active exploitation of CVE-2026-20079, a CVSS 10.0 authentication bypass enabling unauthenticated root command execution in Secure FMC; CISA added it to KEV.
Cisco confirmed in August 2026 that CVE-2026-20079 (CVSS 10.0), an unauthenticated authentication bypass in Secure Firewall Management Center, is being actively exploited, allowing remote attackers to execute scripts and commands as root via crafted HTTP requests to the web interface. CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, ordering federal civilian agencies to patch by September 12, 2026. Shared IOCs, identical hot fixes, and a July 23 log entry suggest CVE-2026-20079 was used alongside the separately exploited static-credential flaw CVE-2026-20316 in the same attacks. Cisco released patches and cloud fixes, warns hot fixes do not remediate already-compromised devices, and says there are no workarounds.
- CVE-2026-20079 is a CVSS 10.0 unauthenticated auth bypass with root RCE
- CISA added it to the KEV catalog with a September 12, 2026 deadline
- IOCs shared with CVE-2026-20316 suggest both flaws used in same attacks
- No workarounds exist; patching does not clean already-compromised devices
- Organizations
- Cisco PSIRT
- Countries
- United States
Vulnerabilities mentioned
All| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Signals | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-20079 | Authentication bypass to root access in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center | 10.0 | 88% | KEVPoC ×2 | KEV |
| CVE-2026-20316 | Hard-Coded Password Vulnerability in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center | 5.3 | 35% | KEVRansomware | KEV |
From the original article
3 min read at bleepingcomputer.com
Cisco has confirmed that a maximum-severity authentication bypass vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-20079 in its Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) software is being actively exploited in attacks. [...]
By Lawrence Abrams · bleepingcomputer.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.